Goldfish Dying For no Obvious Reason

So my girlfriends goldfish are dying. We started off with 1 Oranda, 1 Calico Moor, 1 Polka Dot Pictus Catfish and 1 regular cray fish. After the Moor died of unknown causes, we got a regular fantail goldfish, sarrasa comet and black moor. Black moor, comet and fantail all exhibited the same symptoms. Not moving, sitting in one spot on the top of the water before dying at the bottom of the tank at night time. The crayfish had nothing to do with any of their deaths. The fish never showed any signs of bacterial, fungal or parasite diseases. There has never been a water quality issue. Nitrate and NItrite remain at 0, Alklinaty is 120ppm, pH, 6.8-7 and ammonia 0. The water temp is about 72. A little warm but accomendating for the pictus. And tonight the first oranda died, exhibiting the same symptoms. The only thing i can think of is internal parasites that i can't see, somehow my girlfriend spraying perfume on the otherside of the room got in the tank, someone in her family didn't wash all the soap off their hands before putting them in tank, or her bath and body works wallflower oil diffuser which isnt near the tank. She is really upset. Please give me some advice.

 

how big is the tank?

 

60 gallon. Also fish have had white stringy poop. That could mean internal bacterial infection or internal parasites right? Should i start praziquantel and melafix?
Also there is a airstone in there so it isn't lack of oxygen

 

sorry, i dont really know much about fancy goldfish in tanks, but I have a 850 gallon pond with comets, subinkins and mixes, they have been set up for about 5 years and not a single death or problem, wish I could help but don't know how, somebody will respond soon

 

How are your nitrates at 0? That's highly unusual for a goldfish tank, especially and overstocked one imo. What does your water change and maintenance schedule look like?

 

as of right now the nitrates have remained at zero. I haven't been able to do water changes because the siphon is frozen under snow outside. But since all levels have remained stable and nothing died of new tank syndrome it can't be a water quality issue. I added stress coat when putting new fish and and use stress zyme weekly. These are both API products. I have one new oranda that hasnt started showing symptoms and I would like to keep him alive. The more reading i do makes skin fluke and other parasites likely.

 

I’d be really cautious of perfumes and any sort of air freshener/diffuser in the same room as the fish. There may be a couple of contributing factors including parasites. I think process of elimination might be helpful. So perfume gets applied in a bathroom or hallway. Move diffuser out of bedroom at least temporarily. Decide on one or two people in house max who can put their hands in the tank. So you and your girl friend. Eliminate external issues and also treat for parasites.

I know you included a lot of info in your original post, but consider filing out the emergency template it will help us help you.

 

Is your surface well agitated by the filter(s) and/or an airstone? If not I'd advise to do so. With all those fish you need to ensure proper oxygen levels.

EDIT: ok, I see you have an airstone. Can you post a pic or video of the tank?

 

When i go over her house I will take a video for you guys and fill ut emergency template. I will go over those suggestions with her and her family and remove external factors. The only parasite medication I can get my hands on the fastest is General Cure by API is 500 mg Metronidazole and 150 mg Praziquantel per teaspoon. Should this work? and Should i do a water change before starting treatment to remove debris and old food? I unfrozen my siphon last night.
Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 60 gallons
How long has the tank been running? Active for about 3-4 weeks now
Does it have a filter? Yes. Marineland 275 with biowheel.
Does it have a heater? Yes 100watt heater just enough to wram the water a little.
What is the water temperature? 70-72F
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) All that’s left is 1 Oranda, 1 regular crayfish, 1 polkadot pictus catfish.

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? None yet. Plan to today.
How much of the water do you change? Normally I would do it 25% once a week with water test.
What do you use to treat your water? The first product when cycling was Prime. Now I use API Stress Coat
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Bare bottom tank.

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Yes. 1 and a half weeks using sponges from my personal African Cichlid tank. That tank had no prior illnesses.
What do you use to test the water? API Test strips
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 6.8-7

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? 4-5 times a day in small amounts recommended by goldfish breeder.
How much do you feed your fish? 1 small pinch
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Omega One Goldfish Pellets
Do you feed frozen? Haven’t yet
Do you feed freeze-dried foods? Haven’t yet

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? The dead fish we had anywhere from 1 week to 3 weeks. The dead Oranda lasted the longest.
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? Few weeks ago and thought it was lack of oxygen and not enough food.
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? White stringy poop, not eating, not moving, sitting at the top, death.
Have you started any treatment for the illness? Not yet.
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? Not visibly.
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? Went from active and friendly to slow and sedentary.



In depth detail:

So my girlfriends goldfish are dying. We started off with 1 Oranda, 1 Calico Moor, 1 Polka Dot Pictus Catfish and 1 regular cray fish. After the Moor died of unknown causes, we got a regular fantail goldfish, sarrasa comet and black moor. Black moor, comet and fantail all exhibited the same symptoms. Not moving, sitting in one spot on the top of the water before dying at the bottom of the tank at night time. The crayfish had nothing to do with any of their deaths. The fish never showed any signs of bacterial, fungal or parasite diseases. There has never been a water quality issue. Nitrate and NItrite remain at 0, Alklinaty is 120ppm, pH, 6.8-7 and ammonia 0. The water temp is about 72. A little warm but accommodating for the pictus. And tonight the first oranda died, exhibiting the same symptoms. The only thing i can think of is internal parasites that i can't see, somehow my girlfriend spraying perfume on the other side of the room got in the tank, someone in her family didn't wash all the soap off their hands before putting them in tank, or her bath and body works wallflower oil diffuser which isnt near the tank. She is really upset. Please give me some advice.

 

When i go over her house I will take a video for you guys and fill ut emergency template. I will go over those suggestions with her and her family and remove external factors. The only parasite medication I can get my hands on the fastest is General Cure by API is 500 mg Metronidazole and 150 mg Praziquantel per teaspoon. Should this work? and Should i do a water change before starting treatment to remove debris and old food? I unfrozen my siphon last night.

Make sure you sanitize the siphon. If bleach isn’t your thing, it’s not mine, some white vinegar and let it soak overnight.

Also as far as hands in the tank: make sure hand sanitizer or lotions were not recently put on hands. I use white vinegar and water in a spray bottle for general household cleaning and when it doubt, I just spray some on my hands at the sink and then rinse/dry them. Or a pair of rubber gloves that are fish tank only. Again all these suggestions are so you can rule out external factors that might be affecting fish and then concentrate on in tank issues. Hope that makes sense.

General cure should work fine for your purposes. You can dose the tank but there are quite a few videos on making a batch of medicated food. If you do decide to do medicated food, the suggestions to add garlic powder (not garlic salt) are good. The metro is bitter so it masks the taste. Have done this myself and works well.

 

I agree with FoldedCheese, Your nitrates should be high with no water changes and the stocking level you have. I would try to confirm that your test kit is still good. Can yo have the water parameters checked at a LFS.

I would start doing daily 50% water changes until you know what's going on. You don't need a siphon to do water changes.

It would be very helpful if yo would fill out the emergency template, so folks here can help you.

 

So today ill do a 50% water change and cleaning, and then dose General Cure. I will get new test strips and make sure they weren't innacurate and remove all external factors for the time being. From then on ill make sure water changes are done weekly. I can have water parameters tested at my pet store but I used to work there and they use the same equipment im using. So its either a weird case where there is no nitrates or the equipment is faulty. But i appreciate everyones help very much. Thank you all.

 

Let us know how it works out. Good luck.

 

Not moving, sitting in one spot on the top of the water before dying at the bottom of the tank at night time.

sounds like ammonia or nitrite.

can you get the liquid test? or have a fellow fishkeeper or the goldfish breeder test with a liquid test?

 

Its been awhile since i posted on this thread but I treated with medication and it seemed to work for a while but the last goldfish died. My final suspect is the Pictus catfish. Ive read online that the carry a venom on their barbs. Is it possible that he stabbed and killed the goldfih either purposly or intentionally? The catfish and the crayfish have never once been affected by anything. I'm out of options here and I would like to either get a new type of fish or something but I don't want anymore fish to die from omething completely random. There is absolutely no water quality issues which is confusing the **** out of me. No obviouse signs of illness. Anything.